MGWCC #761 — “This & That”

[Joe]

Ooh, I like that! Beamed aboard (or soon will be). I'd say his difficulty meter is back on track. This was a 2.5 IMHO.

[Laura M]

Beamed up, #103. Relieved to not have to spend my weekend on this one (I was psyching myself up to just opt out if so, but who knows if I could actually do that).

I looked under the "This Year" tab to see what my final count was, and it had already advanced to 2023 so oops, missed my chance. I think I was around 45 for the year, certainly I'm not in the running for prizes. Seems like it was a tough MGWCC year but maybe that was just me... lots of really good ones though!

[Tina]

Matt finishes the year on a high note. That meta was very clever and enjoyable. Great a-ha moment. I thought, "Could it be?...," then, "Yes, it is!" But, wow, that grid really exposed my lack of both high-brow and popular culture knowledge.

[Tina]

Haha wow. Looking at Matt's page right now, apparently I submitted at the exact moment he was doing an update. On the board at #110!

[woozy]

Okay.... I'm kind of confused. I've seen several people commenting about how there isn't going to be a week 5 this week (huh? why not?) and there are well over 100 correct submissions so far which is high for a week 5. So is this a week 5 or isn't it?

[Wendy Walker]

Really enjoyed that puzzle, and now I get to brag about solving a "solo Week 5"! Every time I do so, Mark, my chief head-size-deflater, will point out that per Matt it was only a Week 2.5.

[woozy]

Oh! That was a fun AHA moment. One of the best in a long time.

[MikeM000]

That was a lot of fun. I sent in the comment "I know 37 Across by 2 different names and neither of them fit!"

[Jeremy Smith]

Beam me up! Nice to finish the year with a W.

[AaronT]

Beamed up, #103. Relieved to not have to spend my weekend on this one (I was psyching myself up to just opt out if so, but who knows if I could actually do that).

I looked under the "This Year" tab to see what my final count was, and it had already advanced to 2023 so oops, missed my chance. I think I was around 45 for the year, certainly I'm not in the running for prizes. Seems like it was a tough MGWCC year but maybe that was just me... lots of really good ones though!

If you click or tap the little “<“ link at the top of the “This Year” tab, you can go back to prior weeks and into 2022.

[Laura M]

I looked under the "This Year" tab to see what my final count was, and it had already advanced to 2023 so oops, missed my chance.

If you click or tap the little “<“ link at the top of the “This Year” tab, you can go back to prior weeks and into 2022. 🙂

Thanks, I didn't notice that!

[BarbaraK]

If you click or tap the little “<“ link at the top of the “This Year” tab, you can go back to prior weeks and into 2022.

Thanks! Looks like it’s not counting today’s puzzle in either year though.

[ChrisKochmanski]

Teleported!

[MikeyG]

Beamed up, #103. Relieved to not have to spend my weekend on this one (I was psyching myself up to just opt out if so, but who knows if I could actually do that).

I looked under the "This Year" tab to see what my final count was, and it had already advanced to 2023 so oops, missed my chance. I think I was around 45 for the year, certainly I'm not in the running for prizes. Seems like it was a tough MGWCC year but maybe that was just me... lots of really good ones though!

I have a twofold response: 1. Wow, some of these puzzles this year led to so many amazing, a-ha moments and some incredible feats of construction. 2. Oh, man, if only I discovered this a few years earlier, just think of all the equally amazing moments I could have experienced!

But, yeah, this was great, albeit slightly harder than '21, I agree!

Average solves in 2021:

Total: 420/week
Solo: 337/week (since this stat started getting disclosed)

Average solves in 2022 (excluding this one):

Total: 389/week
Solo: 327/week

Bring on '23!!

Mikey G

[Meg]

Really enjoyed that puzzle, and now I get to brag about solving a "solo Week 5"! Every time I do so, Mark, my chief head-size-deflater, will point out that per Matt it was only a Week 2.5.

I think this was my first week 5 solo solve! So proud . Tell Mark a week 5 big head is perfectly appropriate.

[benchen71]

Confidently awaiting beam-up. What a fun way to end a great year of metas!

[hcbirker]

After following a few fruitless paths, I am confident I’ve beamed up. Very fun “aha” moment! Nice that it wasn’t a true week five. My weekend is mine!

[Joe]

That was a lot of fun. I sent in the comment "I know 37 Across by 2 different names and neither of them fit!"

That movie. It's one of my absolute favorites of Kurosawa's. Do yourselves a favor. See it if you haven't!

[Cindy]

Okay.... I'm kind of confused. I've seen several people commenting about how there isn't going to be a week 5 this week (huh? why not?) and there are well over 100 correct submissions so far which is high for a week 5. So is this a week 5 or isn't it?

Matt said on the crosswordfiend.com write up last week that since Word for Word played like a week five…..this week we would have some easier fun.

[auee89]

Awaiting beamage. Fun one and now I need to finish the grid. Happy New Year Muggles!